As a friend prepares for a great adventure, many blogs and emails have been exchanged. It has brought laughter to some and concern to others. We all need to be careful on what we email, post or blog and say about others. People’s lives can be greatly affected by the words of others.
I used to be a very private person. I lived a life where I had a great number of “secrets” that I held within. I worried over what others thought of me, of speaking in front of a group, of running into old classmates. Over the past six years I have tried to be more open with people and share more about my life. I try to "just be me" and not hide behind sarcasm and humour. It means having higher self esteem and more faith in myself.
I feel in order to be true to yourself you need to trust your friends and family with your thoughts; ideas, maybe even your dreams. You also need to believe that they will still love you when they see the real you. It is not easy and sometimes can take great courage. We also have to realize that not everyone we meet will love us or even understand us and that too is okay. I have become more confident, outgoing and well, more talkative (although some will find it hard to believe that it is possible for me to talk more now than I did as a child). Thankfully, some people like to be quieter, more conservative. God made us who we are, everyone of us different, unique, everyone of us loveable.
Emailing and blogging can be an "easy" way to share with people because it is not face to face. We can find safety and a sense of courage in front of our computer screens. Yet because it is not face to face we can’t see the emotion or facial expressions of the writer or the reader, what we say can sometimes be taken the wrong way. You may be laughing while you are typing but the reader cannot see that and may not “hear” the laughter in your words. Also each person’s sense of humour differs from others. Sometimes people get hurt by the words that others have typed, friendships can be harmed. Many misunderstandings have happen over the internet. This computer era, while it connects us with people all over the world, it takes away from the real personal connection that we have with each other. I hate to think what is going to happen over the next few decades. Will people still meet at the local coffee shop to visit or will we just Skype each other from home? Will we be there to hug a friend in need or will we just type {hugs}. Will personal relationships even form and grow? Will we find that deeper connection that comes from face to face contact?
Although I have become more open myself, I have to remember that other people can live much more private lives and I need to respect that. I haven't forgotten how important trust in one another is. We are all journeying along together, yet we are all at different places on the trail. So while emailing, writing or blogging about yourself is great, an awesome way for self expression, respecting others while doing so, is most important and that I believe is my lesson learned for this weekend. Remember, not only is God watching but the world may be reading!!
p.s I know the laughter over this will follow ...in about 2 months time!
Today I ran in my first 10k run in Victoria. The amount of people there running was amazing...over 13,000 people showed up to run and walk. Everyone happy and enjoying the companionship of friends. The sun shone brightly as we took off at 8 a.m. The first 4 km were pretty good...then I needed to stop and walk a bit, then back to running, arriving at the ocean around the 6km mark. I couldn’t help but notice the beauty around us and the wonderful ocean smells. People were out cheering everyone on, musicians playing along the way and thankfully some water stops.